The Perils of Fanfiction
by coalitiongirl
Summary: Buffy and Spike are thrown into a Spuffy fanfiction!
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place in Season Seven, just after the episode "First Date."**

_"Anyone tell you what happened 'round here tonight?"_

_"Willow did. The First is back in the mix."_

_"It, uh…it talked to the little boy. Said it wasn't time for me yet. I should move out. Leave town. Before it _is_ time for me."_

_"No. You have to stay."_

_"You've got another demon fighter now."_

_"That's not why I need you here."_

_"Is that right? Why's that, then?"_

_"Because I'm not ready for you to not be here."_

_"And the principal? How does he fit in?"_

She looked at him silently after that, unwilling to verbally convey her feelings for him just yet. Whatever those feelings were. Oh, she loved him, she was fairly sure of that, but not the way he wanted her to. Not the passionate love he craved.

But he sensed what she was feeling nonetheless, and moved his hand to rest on her shoulder.

"Buffyyyyyyy!" Dawn's sudden scream made them both jump. "Buffy, you've got to see this! Where are you?"

Buffy sighed. "Sisters…" She slumped down on the couch where she had been sitting with Spike. "Never a moment's peace."

"Buffy! I have to- Oh, there you are," Dawn said, frowning at them. "Were you two having a moment?" she asked suspiciously, sitting across from them.

"Really not your business." Buffy glared at her sister.

Dawn shook her head. "If you hurt her, Spike…"

"Dawn!" Buffy was ready to throttle her. Not now, to bring up what had happened last year…

Spike stayed silent, scooting away from her, his expressionless eyes on Dawn's cold ones.

"What did you find?" Buffy asked finally, desperate to change the subject. "Information on The First? Online?"

"Better." Dawn opened up the laptop she had tucked under her arm and moved to the couch, plopping down between Buffy and Spike. "I, um, 'borrowed' Willow's Mac to do some homework, but I was bored, so I googled myself, and…" She clicked on a tab triumphantly. "Check out this site!"

"Fanfiction dot net?" Buffy asked dubiously. "Have we slipped into some alternate reality where I'm Andrew and actually _care_ about these things?"

Dawn held up a hand. "Wait." She clicked several times. "Here!" she said triumphantly.

Buffy leaned closer. "Wait a minute. Does that say…_Buffy the Vampire Slayer_?" she demanded incredulously. "How did my cover get blown worldwide?"

"It's huge, I know!" Dawn bobbed her head up and down. "And people write stuff on here all the time! Stuff about us, stories, short pieces…"

Spike frowned at the first entry. "'AU High School fic. Spike and Buffy have always hated each other, but now, things are about to change. Spuffy.' What the bleeding hell is Spuffy?"

"Spike and Buffy!" Dawn said, shaking her head. "There's like a whole Spuffy cult on this site! Also a lot of Bangel," she added, not noticing her sister's and the vampire's suddenly pale faces. "But I guess that's to be expected. I also have loads of fanfiction written about me," she continued, oblivious to the tension around her. "In fact-"

"Dawn, what are you doing?" It was Willow, coming in from the kitchen, her eyes wide. "Is that my computer?"

"Oh, I know I should've asked you, but I needed-"

"No!" Willow snapped uncharacteristically. "Tell me you haven't gone online!"

"Just a little," Dawn shrugged apologetically, putting the laptop down on the computer table in front of them and moving over to Willow. "I'm really sorry."

"Will, is there something wrong?" Buffy asked, concerned at the look of horror on her friend's face.

Willow seemed to calm a bit. "Maybe not, if you're all okay," she said worriedly. "I thought I put a spell on the computer to…"

Something was wrong. The screen was getting brighter and brighter, and Willow and Dawn, in front of her, dimmer and dimmer. She turned to Spike, fear in her eyes, and tried to move, but it was as if she was frozen in place, unable to run away. The whole room was white, and she was falling…

_Whump! _Spike caught her as they both hit the ground, the white light fading.

Buffy blinked. "Spike?"

"Yeah?" he asked softly, his eyes only on her.

"Why are we in the library?"

"What?" He frowned and held out a hand to help her up as he rose. "Where are we?"

"Oh, god, please don't tell me it's amnesia," Xander groaned from where he and Willow stood in front of them. "Although that _is_ the only reason why you'd ever be willingly in Spike Giles's arms."

"Hey!" Spike protested, not letting go of Buffy's hand. "Where'd the whelp come from?"

"And why'd you call him Spike _Giles_?" Buffy shivered. Spike, related to Giles? _There _was a frightening thought.

"Because that's his name?" Xander said, shaking his head. "Wow, that fall really did a number on your head."

"Right." Buffy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and then opened them. They were still in the library. "Refresh my memory."

"Well, Willow needed a book from the library, and we went to get it," Xander informed her. "But Giles isn't in here today, and Spike Giles was hanging out in here with his who-"

"With Harmony," Willow interjected swiftly, blushing.

"Yeah, her," Xander nodded impatiently. "He got all annoyed when we asked for a book, said we were wasting his time, and made some crude comment at you, so you got mad, punched him, you both went down, then this whole confusion started, and why are you still holding Spike's hand?"

She dropped it guiltily, still puzzling over the mystery that was their situation. "Spike is Giles's…"

"Son." Willow gave her a weird look. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. We're both fine," Spike said brusquely. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some business to attend to with Buffy, so…" He took her hand again, ignoring Buffy's friends, and pulled her to the back of the library.

"See you guys later," Buffy called out, flashing them a smile. From the looks of it, they needed reassurance that Spike wasn't going to hurt her or something.

"Blondie Bear!" Harmony popped out from behind the last bookcase, her blouse rumpled and her hair askew. Clearly, she hadn't been looking for reference materials. Her smile faded when she saw Buffy. "Why's _she_ here? You weren't planning on…" Another, slyer smile spread onto her face. "Well, I guess we could…"

"Harm!" Spike said, annoyed, as Buffy shuddered and dropped his hand again. "Get out of here!"

"Fine!" she said sulkily. "But don't expect me to come back at our Free!" She tossed her hair and left, not bothering to fix her shirt beforehand.

"So…_what the bloody hell is going on here_?" Spike said, his eyes wide.

"Harmony's here, and you're Spike _Giles_…" Buffy shook her head.

"And this!" Spike added, taking her hand and pressing it to his chest.

"Your heart," Buffy whispered. "It's beating. Why is it beating?" She thought back to what had happened before they'd been thrown into this…situation…whatever it was. "Willow said she did a spell."

"Willow did a spell. Great," Spike groaned. "Well, this time we're not engaged…but Giles is apparently once again my father…when will that girl learn her lesson?"

"She did learn her lesson," Buffy said warningly. "You know that. She's just made a mistake. I don't know why she'd put us here, though. What was she trying to do?"

"The fanfiction!" Spike realized. "You and me in high school!"

"You're right," Buffy agreed. "We must be stuck here. But then, how do we break out?"

Spike shrugged. "Well, it's got to end somewhere, right? I guess we play it out until the desired conclusion, then maybe…"

She nodded. _High school, all over again. And this time, Spike's here, too… God, I hope this story ends quickly. I've got The First to worry about, and I really don't have time for this… _One other thing was nagging at her, and she couldn't help but wonder about the tag they had seen on the fanfiction. _Spuffy…_


	2. Chapter 2

Entering the lunchroom was like walking down memory lane. It seemed like everyone Buffy had ever known was there, whether human, demon, or vampire. And all their eyes seemed to follow Buffy and Spike as they walked through the room.

"Hey, Spike! How's it going?" Forrest called from where he sat with Graham and...

"Is that _Adam_?" Buffy murmured, her eyes widening.

Spike scowled at them. "Bet I don't have a chip here. Think I could-?"

"No," she said firmly, moving toward where she saw Xander and Willow. At the same time, Spike veered toward a table across the room, where Cordelia, Harmony, Angel, Wesley, and a few people Buffy thought might be Angel's friends from LA waited for him. "Where are you going?" she asked Spike, frowning.

He shrugged. "Feels like I'm being pulled in this direction. Like that's where I have to go. Must be the fanfiction." He rolled his eyes. "Apparently, I'm doomed to spend time with Captain Forehead to atone for past sins."

Buffy grinned despite herself, watching him swagger toward his grandsire. The smile faded as soon as she saw who was approaching.

"My Spike," Drusilla cooed, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He looked alarmed, his eyes darting toward Buffy's unsmiling face across the room. Gently, he pried Dru off of him and sat down. "Dru-" She settled on his lap, her eyes flashing when he tried to push her away.

Buffy watched them, annoyed when Spike finally gave in and let Dru stay there. "Who does she think she is?" she fumed to Willow, completely forgetting where she was.

"His girlfriend?" Xander said, giving her a pointed look. "What was going on with you and Spike before, anyway?"

"Something went down between B and Spike?" Faith asked from the other side of the table, smirking. "Damn, B! I knew you had it in you!" She raised her hand for a high five.

Buffy glared at her. "Nothing happened! We just needed to…talk about an assignment. For school. Yeah." That sounded plausible, right?

And to her relief, Willow seemed to know what she was talking about. "Ohh, the history assignment! I thought you decided that you'd rather fail than do it!"

_Of course. A history assignment to bring together enemies. God, it's like a stupid Disney Channel movie! _Buffy automatically looked at Spike and immediately wished she hadn't when she saw him sucking face with Dru. "Yeah, well, I figured that I could handle Spike more than I could handle summer school, so…"

"Like you'd ever fail," Faith put in. "No way B the Brain's gonna end up in summer school!" They all laughed appreciatively.

Buffy considered that. She was a _brain_? Well, that was unexpected…but kind of gratifying. _I guess when you're not too busy with popularity or slaying, this is what you become…_

She grinned. "Absolutely. And I'm not going to let Spike bring down my GPA!"

Willow beamed. "That's the spirit! And at least it's not Harmony or someone that you're stuck with. I mean, Spike's really smart, so you'll be finished in no time, right?"

"Spike? Smart?" Buffy asked dubiously. The Spike she knew was much more prone to acting than thinking. Was this one so different?

"Well, not Spike," Willow conceded. "But back before he met Morticia-" She cast a distasteful look at Dru- "And he was William, and hung out with us…"

"Oooh, backstory," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. They all stared at her. "Never mind."

--

The rest of the day passed faster than she thought it would. Teachers didn't seem to care what you did if you were a brain, although Willow gave her reproving looks when she caught her doodling instead of taking notes. Not like Buffy cared. She'd be out of this story when her grades started to matter, anyway. Probably. Actually, she had no idea how long the fanfiction would take. _What a horrifying thought. _Hopefully, Willow was working on getting her out…

She waited by her locker until she saw Spike. "Listen," she said in a low voice, glaring at Drusilla, "Let's work on that history assignment tonight."

Spike nodded quickly, looking embarrassed. "Sure, I've got to take Dru home first, though, then I'll go to Revello? Is that where-"

She shrugged, annoyed. "Whatever."

"Buffy-"

Then they were interrupted by a strong hand that spun Buffy around and pulled her into a long kiss.

She recognized the kiss immediately, but suppressed the urge to pull away when she thought of Spike and Dru. "Hey, Riley."

He grinned at her. "Sorry I wasn't around all day. Coach wanted to go over some plays for the game, and you know how he is." He perked up. "Will I see you at the Bronze tonight?"

"I have this history…" her voice trailed off. Spike had left already. "Yeah, why not?"

"Great!" He beamed. "Does Willow need a ride home today?"

"I think Oz is taking her," Buffy said, remembering a conversation from earlier.

A few minutes later, she was wishing that Willow had joined her. Riley talked. A lot. And it was all about football, and "that time when I scored this" and "that time when I won that…" Eventually, Riley's voice just washed over her, giving Buffy time to stew. And stew she did.

What did Spike think he was doing with Dru? She wasn't even real. None of this was real. And if he was going to spend all of his time glued to that ho-bag, when were they ever going to figure out how to finish this story and get back home? It was irresponsible, that was it! And besides, what happened to the whole "I'll kill my sire for you" thing? What, now it was "I'll shag my sire for you?" The whole thing was so warped!

"Stupid Spike," she muttered.

"What?" Riley asked, frowning.

"Nothing. I hate Spike."

He laughed. "What else is new?" He pulled up next to her house. "See you later!"

He leaned over to kiss her again, but she pulled away from him before he could and waved. "Thanks for the ride!"

She headed for the door, wondering what she'd find inside, when the roar of a motorcycle made her turn. "Spike," she groaned.

He killed the engine and jumped off. "Apparently, I live next door," he offered, a wide smile splitting his face.

She stared at him. "Why are you so happy? Got lucky with your ho?"

He ignored her comment. "Sunshine, Buffy!" He grabbed her hand and swung her around. "Isn't it _incredible_?" He started singing some old rock song she vaguely recognized at the top of his lungs.

_"I planned, each chartered course_

_Be careful thought along the highway!"_

Caught up in his enthusiasm, Buffy let Spike dance her down to her doorstep, still bellowing the song.

_"And more, much more than this_

_I did it my way!"_

He laughed joyfully. "I love this! I love the sun! God, I love you so much!" And he planted a kiss smack on her lips.

She jumped back, her eyes wide. "Spike…"

The mood was broken, and he suddenly looked contrite. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I didn't mean to…"

"Forget it." She gave him a small smile.

He nodded, business-like again. "Right." He glanced at the door to her house. "Ready to go in?"

She shrugged. "Maybe we should go to your house. I mean, if Dawn's home, we won't get a moment alone. And we know what to expect in _your_ house."

"Yeah, Daddy Rupes." Spike mock-shivered at the idea. "But in your house… I mean, it's very likely that your mum is there."

"I know," she admitted. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"Come on, then," he said, moving toward his house, his hand still wrapped around hers. "Let's go meet my Da." She followed with some trepidation.

Spike pulled open the door. "I'm home!" He called out.

Dawn came down the stairs, rolling her eyes. "Alert the press, Spike's home before midnight." She frowned. "Buffy? With Spike?"

"What are you doing here?" Spike demanded.

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "I live here? Remember me? Your sister?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm outta here. Hey, Buffy. Nice to see you here. Make sure my brother goes easy on you."

And she was gone, leaving Spike and Buffy to stare at each other in shock.

"Dawn's _your_ sister." Buffy couldn't help but feeling a little dismayed.

"Apparently." Spike was grinning again. "My life really _is_ perfect in this story."

"Yep." Buffy grimaced. "You've got lots of friends, Giles as your dad, Dawn as your sister, a girlfriend plus Harmony on the side-"

"Buffy." Spike softened. "Look, with Dru-"

Buffy turned away. "I get it. She's your sire, and she actually wants you here. Of course you'd want-"

He took her hand again. "Buffy, I love you. That's not going to change just because we're in some warped fanfiction. I can end things with this Dru right now, if you want."

She flushed. "You don't need to… I mean, I'm apparently with Riley…But I don't…"

He straightened. "That's right. You've got Soldier-Boy now. Shouldn't matter what I do." He was getting annoyed. "You just need me on standby in case you get lonely?"

"Spike…"

"First the principal, now Finn…" He started pacing. "You're moving on. Fine. But I can't, without you getting all jealous?"

"I'm not jealous!" she snapped. He gave her a disbelieving look. "I'm just worried! That you'll lose sight of getting out of here with your perfect life and all, and the First-"

"Sod this!" Spike said furiously. "None of this is real, I know that. I'm not going to forget who I am, or where we are!" He spun around. "But we can't get out of here on our own, so we've got to live it out! I'm just trying to follow the script!" He stormed up the stairs, looking angrier than he had in a long time.

Buffy sent a glare toward the stairs. "I hate him!" she fumed, heading for her house.

She flung open the door, ready to vent alone in her room, when someone grabbed her.

"I saw you with the Giles boy, you slut!" he hissed, slapping her hard.

In her non-Slayer body, it _hurt_. So it took her a moment to recover and look up to see the furious face of her attacker.

_Dad???_


End file.
